Shoe-tree



Feb. 24, 1925 r 1,527,662"

A. R; ANDERSON SHOE TREE Filed July 16, 1923 gwue'nfomp fltt mcpgi Patented Feb. 24, 1925.,

-UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ANDREW R. ANn-ERso-N, or NonrnannINeroN; New JnnsEY; An'rnun'n. ANDERSON ExEoU'ron or snip ANDREW ANDERSON, 'DE'EJEASED.

I SHOE-TREE.

Application filed July 16, 1923. Serial No. 651,870.

To (ZZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ANDREivR. ANDER- sort, a citizen of the United States, residing at North Arlington, in the county of I Bergen, and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improveinents in Shoe-Trees, ofwhich the following is a specification.

Ths invention relates "to improvements in shoe trees and more particularly to that type embodying a toe part consisting of relatively separable sections, and means for separati i-g these sections to expand'the toe part within the toe of a shoe in-which the tree is placed, and the object of the inven tion is to provide anovel arrangement of the thrust plate and the links which are connected to this plateand to the sections of the toe part and by which arrangement the piv ot s for the links, and the links themselves, will be relievedof strain to a considerable extentboth in the manipulation of the tree to expand the toepa-rt and withdrawing the toe part of the tree from with1nthe toeofthe shoe. 3 v

' In the accompanying drawings:

Figure l is a perspective view of a shoe tree constructed in accordance with the present invention .a portion being broken away to better illustrate the connection between the pants;

Figure 2 is a horizontal sectional view taken in a plane immediately, above the thrust plate of the device and the links associated therewith, the thrustfplate being shown in retracted position in full lines and in'projected position dotted lines.

The shoe tree embodying the, invention comprises a toe part which is indicated in general by the numeral 1 'fiwSh'EbIlk'fWh-lCh is indicated in getter-arty the numeral 2, and a heel part which is indicated by the numeral 3. The heel part 3 may be in the form of a knob of a suitable contour and dimensions, and it is fixed at one end of the shank 2, which shank is preferably in the nature of a flat resilient strip of metal and is preferably provided near the heel part 3 with a hooked finger piece 4 to permit of the tree being more readily removed from the shoe. v v

The toe part 1 comprises two substantially counterparttoe sections which are indi cated by the innneral 5, and these toe sections are of the usual form, having sub .stantially flat vertically disposed abutment faces 6 which mutually contact when the sections are brought together, or, in other words whenthe toe part is contracted to its smallestdlmeusions, and the said sections are connected near their forward ends by 9 so as to provide against complete separation of the toe sections and yet permit of the required relative separation thereof and the necessary relative swingingmovement upon the pin as a fulcrum.

The thrustplate heretofore referred to is indicated by the numeralqlOand the said plate is fixedly mounted by rivets or otherwise, as indicated by the numeral 11, at the forward end ofthe shank 2. The butt or rear end ofthe toe sections 5 are formed with horizontally disposed shallow recesses 12 to accommodatethe thrust plate, the forward end of the shank, and the links associated with the said. plate, these links being indicated by the numeral 13. The

, links 13 are pivoted each at one end, as at 14, upon the upper side of the thrust plate 10 in advance of the forward end of the shank 2, and at'their other end they are received 'wlthin the recesses 12 and are pivotally connected with the respective toe sections by means of v vertically disposed pivot pins 15 driven through orinto the toe sections. At this point it will be evident, and partioularly by reference to Figure 2 of the drawings, that the links 18 together with the shank or thrust plate, constitute in effect a toggle so that when the thrust plate and shank are drawn rearwardly, the pivoted end 14 of the link will be correspondingly shifted thereby drawing together the toe sections 5. On the other hand, when the tree is arranged within a shoe, the toe of which is to be stretched or shaped, the stress exerted bythe resilient shank 2 which is at such time flexed between the heel part 3 and the toe part 1; will effect a forward shifting of the thrust plate 10 resulting in the pivoted ends 15 of the links 13 being swung apart so as to relatively separate and swing apart the toe sections 5 and expand the toe part 1. t

In order that the pivots 14 and 15 for the links 13, and likewise in order that the links themselves may be relieved of strain, so far as is possible,and thus prevent any distortion of the parts and prolong the life of the device as a whole, the thrust plate 10 is provided with spaced shoulders 16 and 17 at each of its lateral edges, the shoulders 16 being located near the front of the plate and the shoulders 17 being located rearwardl v of the shoulders 16 and displaced laterally outwardly with relation thereto. Between each set of shoulders 16 and 17, the lateral edge of the plate 10 is curved as indicated by the numeral 18, on the arc of a circle having as its center the pivot ll for the respective link 13, and the radius of the are is such that in the swinging movement of the links 13, their pivots 15 will ride along and in contact with the arcuate edges 18, of the plate 10 As a consequence, the thrust imposed and the resistance oifered to the thrust are borne substantially wholly by the pivot 15 and the curvilinear edges 18 of the thrust plate,'with the result that little or no strain is imposed upon the links 13 to cause distortion thereof. By providing the shoulders 16 and 17 "at the opposite end of each of the curvilinear edge portions 18, stops are providedofor the respective pivot pin 15 so that when the tree is fitted into a shoe and the flexed shank 2 is pressed downwardly to urge the toe part 1 well into the toe of the shoe, and the thrust plate 10 is shifted forwardly, the pivot pin 16 may rest against the shoulders 17 thus providing a, stop to prevent anyfurther forward move ment of the thrust plate which would otherwise bring the links 18 to a position past their center and effect a contraction of the toe part. On the other hand, when the shoe tree is to be removed from the shoe it will often be found that a pull will be required to be exerted upon the shank in order to withdraw the toe part 1 from the toe of the shoe and under these conditions the pivot pins 15 will engage the shoulders 16 and the links 13. will be relieved of strain, as Well as their respective pivots,

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. In a shoe tree, a toe part comprising relatively displaceable toe sections, a thrust plate movable longitudinally between the sections, links pivoted each at one end to the thrust plate and each at its other end to a respective one of the toe sections, and spaced abutment shoulders upon each lateral edge of the thrust plate constituting stops for engagement by the last mentioned pivot.

2. In. a shoe tree, a toe part comprising relatively displaceable toe sections, a thrust plate movable longitudinally between the sections, links pivoted each at one end to the thrust plate and each at its other end to a respective one of the toe sections, the lateral edges of the thrust plate having curvilinear portions. extending on arcs concentric to the respective first mentioned pivot and having a radii such that the second mentioned respective pivot will ride against the said arcuate edgeport-ions in theswinging move ment ofthe links 3. In a shoe tree, a toe part comprising relatively displaceable toe sections, a thrust plate .movable longitudinally between the sections, links pivoted each at one end to the thrust plate and each at its other end to a respective one of the toe sections, and spaced abutment shoulders upon each-lateral edge of the'thrust plate constituting stops for engagament by the last mentioned pivot, the

said lateral edges of the thrust plate between each set of abutment shouldersextending on an are having as its center the first mentionedpivot of the respective link and having a radius such that the second mentioned pivot of each respective link will ride in contact with the said arcuate edge portions of thethrust plate in the swinging move ment of the links. I a 4 v 4:. A shoe. tree comprising relatively displaced toe sections, a thrust plate movable longitudinally between said toe sections; a fiat strip spring rigidly secured at one end to said thrust plate, and a heel member-tsecured to the other end of said spring. 1

5. The combination as set forth in claim 4 together with a finger grip secured to said spring adjacent said heel member.

. In testimony whereof I aifix my signature 

